CAPCE Continuing Education & CPR Requirements

Emergency responders, EMTs, and paramedics are required to accumulate CEs and report them to CAPCE. CPR and other life-saving skills are an important part of continuing education.

Read on to learn all about CAPCE CPR requirements, approved courses, and profession-specific details so you can choose the best course for your unique situation.

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What Is CAPCE?

CAPCE is the Commission on Accreditation for Prehospital Continuing Education. It is the organization that oversees continuing education for emergency responders, EMTs, and paramedics.

Because the medical field is constantly evolving as research uncovers new information, treatments, and best practices, medical professionals — including emergency responders — need to maintain their credentials with continuing education (CE) units.

Maintaining a valid and current CPR certification is part of CAPCE’s continuing education requirements.

CAPCE Continuing Education & Course Content CPR Requirements

Organizations base their CPR certification requirements on three criteria:

COURSE CONTENT

What skills are covered in the program.

COURSE DELIVERY METHOD

How the program is delivered, such as fully online, blended, or classroom.

COURSE BRAND

Who is offering the program

Your course content requirement tells you which course you need to take in order for your certification to be accepted by your employer or other regulating body.

As healthcare providers, EMTs and other emergency responders are required to be certified in Basic LIfe Support (BLS).

Professionals overseen by CAPCE are required to complete a certain number of continuing education (CE) units per year and CPR certification and recertification is an important part of those CE requirements.

CAPCE Continuing Education & Course Brand CPR Requirements

Some national organizations require that your CPR training come from a specific brand; others don’t have brand-specific requirements and allow you to complete your training with flexible online providers like ProTrainings.

CAPCE has explicitly approved ProTrainings’ as an organization, meaning that all of our courses are approved.

You can see our listing here.

Through ProTrainings, there are a number of CAPCE-Accredited educational courses available to you, such as Bloodborne Pathogens, Self Defense, Ergonomics, ACLS, and PALS.

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CAPCE Continuing Education & Course Delivery Method CPR Requirements

CPR can be taught in a classroom, online, or in a blended format. Some national organizations that oversee professionals and require CPR certification have set additional standards regarding the type of course you take.

If you are overseen by CAPCE, you will need to complete a hands-on skills assessment in order to earn a valid BLS certification that will be accepted by CAPCE.

While you can complete a classroom-based BLS program, most professionals prefer to take a blended BLS class. A blended CPR program allows you to complete the video training and written test portions completely online and then complete a hands-on practice and skills assessment with a certified instructor over a live instructor-led video conference.

Blended programs are often preferred for their flexibility, convenience, and remote-friendly format. We also have local instructors to conduct your skills session in person.

CAPCE Continuing Ed Information

I understand that ProTrainings as a requirement of CAPCE accreditation will submit a record of my course completions to the CAPCE AMS. I further understand that my course completion records may be accessed by or shared with such regulators as state EMS offices, training officers, and NREMT on a password-protected need-to-know basis. In addition, I understand that I may review my record of CAPCE-accredited course completions by contacting CAPCE.

Instructors and Curriculum Authors at ProTrainings are required to disclose potential conflicts of interest, and have that disclosure remain on file for a minimum of 3 years. This disclosure includes statements regarding conflict of interest in any of the following areas:

Disclosure of any financial relationship one has with other organizations (besides ProTrainings) and describe the nature and purpose of those organizations
Disclose one's position of employment, including the nature of the business of the employer, the position held, and a description of daily employment responsibilities.
Disclose any outside relationships held with any person or entity from which ProTrainings obtains substantial goods and/or services, or which provides services that compete with ProTrainings where the relationship involves holding a position of responsibility; a substantial financial interest (other than owning less than 1% interest in a publicly-traded company); or the receipt of any unusual gifts or favors.
Disclose any financial interests or positions of responsibility in entities providing goods or services in support of EMS practice other than owning less than a 1% interest in a publicly traded company.
Disclose any other interest that may create a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest with CAPCE or the CE provider

As of 6/30/2022 at 3:11pm EST, no instructors nor curriculum authors at ProTrainings have disclosed any potential conflicts of interest in regards to the medical training or education at ProTrainings.

You can earn CEs for the following ProTrainings courses:

ProCPR — CE Hours: 4.0 Training: Required Blended: Required
ProBloodBorne — CE Hours: 1.0
ProFirstAid Advanced — CE Hours: 4.0 Training: Required Blended: Required
ProACLS — CE Hours: 8.0
ProACLS Recertification — CE Hours: 8.0
ProPALS — CE Hours: 8.0
ProPALS Recertification — CE Hours: 8.0
Healthcare Ergonomics — CE Hours: 1.0
Workplace Ergonomics — CE Hours: 1.0
Office Ergonomics — CE Hours: 1.0
Self Defense — CE Hours: 1.0
Pro Pet Hero — CE Hours: 1.5
ProHIPAA for Leaders — CE Hours: 2.0
ProHIPAA: add for .5 CE Hours
Sexual Harassment: add for .5 CE Hours
ProAnaphylaxis — CE Hours: 1.0

Special USCG CPR & First Aid Requirements for Certification

In addition to the course content, course modality, and course brand requirements discussed above, USCG has additional requirements that professionals must adhere to.

USCG, in particular, requires specific language to appear on CPR certification cards. Many online CPR training providers will issue you a standard CPR certification card that does not meet these requirements.

However, ProTrainings has collaborated with the US Coast Guard to ensure that all CPR certifications for USCG personnel feature the required text.

To ensure that you are taking one of the approved courses and receive a CPR certification card with the USCG special language, sign up here.

Learn More About Professional CPR Requirements

Browse other national organizations that ProTrainings works with:

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

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National Academy of Sports Medicine

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Academy of General Dentistry

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Commission on Accreditation for Pre-…

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Postgraduate Institute for Medicine

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Athletics & Fitness Association of America

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Dental Assisting National Board

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CAPCE CPR Requirements FAQs

Does CAPCE accept online CPR certifications?

CAPCE only accepts BLS certifications from courses that require a hands-on skills assessment, such as classroom or blended BLS courses.

In a blended BLS course, you will complete the training portion of the course online, which allows you to access your course from anywhere, start and stop the course at any time, and replay videos as needed.

Then, you will complete a hands-on skills assessment with a certified CPR instructor. At ProTrainings, our blended CPR courses are set up so that you can complete the hands-on skills assessment over a live video conference. Your evaluator leads you through those practical skills in the comfort of your own home or office at your chosen date and time.